Disney Case Could Define ‘Recording’

Tiny bubbles . . . Holy nuggets . . . Trendy rivals . . . Little doggie.

Louis Prima sure could swing.

He was the king of the 1950s Las Vegas lounge singers and he enjoyed a popular resurgence when the Gap recently used his “Jump, Jive and Wail” to advertise khaki pants. But it was Prima’s role as a singing cartoon orangutan in a 1960s kiddie movie that could earn him a mention in the law books.

Prima, who died in 1978, provided the voice of the King of the Apes in Disney’s animated “Jungle Book.” His 1965 contract promised recording royalties for singing “I Want to Be Like You” on the film’s soundtrack.

Back then, no one had ever heard of videocassettes or DVDs, and Disney is taking the position that Prima’s contract didn’t cover the newer technology. Although Disney has paid royalties on audio reproductions of the soundtrack, it has not coughed up any for the home video version of “Jungle Book.”

Prima’s widow, Gia, has taken Disney to court. A trial, scheduled to begin Oct. 31 before U.S. District Judge William Matthew Byrne Jr., proposes to define, once and for all, what the word “recording” really means.

The issue has arisen before, but those disputes--including one involving Phil Harris, the voice of Baloo singing “Jungle Book’s” enduring “Bear Necessities”--were resolved in confidential, out-of-court settlements, says Prima attorney Anthony J. Sylvester.

A Disney representative said the legal decisions were favorable for the Mouse, which has “met all contractual obligations to Mr. Prima’s estate.”

The suit, alleging breach of contract, unjust enrichment and fraud, seeks compensatory and punitive damages, an injunction, regular royalty statements and an accounting of the money Disney has made on “Jungle Book” videos and DVDs.

HUNG OVER: The makers of Korbel champagne are suing the publisher of Consumer Reports for product defamation, charging that a biased review in the magazine’s November 1999 issue burst Korbel’s millennial bubble.

The suit, filed in U.S. District Court in Los Angeles, suggests that a blind taste test conducted by the magazine was little more than a “one-sided promotion piece” that favored one vineyard, Domaine Carneros.

According to Korbel’s legal papers, one of the “expert” tasters had no experience and turned to Domaine Carneros for pointers “in order to develop standards for the wine tasting.”

The suit states that Consumer Reports falsely implied that the method Korbel uses to put the bubbles in its champagnes is similar to one used for cheaper, mass-produced sparkling wines.

Korbel also claims that Consumer Reports, which takes pride in its objective product testing, has refused to disclose how the champagne taste test was conducted. A spokesman at Consumer Reports could not be reached.

Since the article was published, the suit says, Korbel’s sales have gone flat--down 51%. Korbel estimates that it has lost $14 million and counting.

JESUS ROCKS: Forget what you’ve heard about Jesus being born in a stable. He was a cave baby, some anthropologists and religious experts now believe.

This revelation has led to an unholy court battle between two companies and their plans to market 3 million stones excavated from the so-called “Cave of Nativity,” a tourist spot near Bethlehem.

Webstone Group Inc. of Los Angeles accuses Nativity Stones of Pacoima of misrepresentation and breach of contract; the company claims it lost $240,000 on the marketing project because of Nativity’s “dishonest conduct.”

Webstone complains in Los Angeles Superior Court that Nativity offered to sell pebbles from the cave but never delivered the blessed things. The suit also charges that Nativity falsely claimed to have the Vatican’s seal of approval.

A call to the president of Nativity Stones was not returned.

Despite the dispute with Webstone, Nativity continues to market the religious nuggets--embedded in gold crosses and strung as rosary beads--through its own Web site. The site includes a history of the sacred cavern and an endorsement by celebrity spokesman Ricardo Montalban, of “real Cor-eeeenth-ian leather” fame.

The Web site also features one glowing testimonial after another: “You almost feel like you have a piece of Jesus with you.” . . . “He’s right here on my neck.” . . . “I feel more Christian, I guess you can put it.”

N.Y. STATE OF MIND: A rivalry between hip hotelier Ian Schrager and protege Rande Gerber has come to light through the miracle of litigation.

Schrager recently obtained an injunction from the New York State Supreme Court that bars Gerber, a.k.a. Mr. Cindy Crawford, from raiding Schrager’s staff to set up rival hotel bars.

It’s a bicoastal injunction. Not only are Gerber and his brother Scott forced out of the swank Wet Bar at the new W Hotel in New Yawk, they are barred from having any involvement in the Park Sunset Hotel, scheduled to open next month next to Schrager’s beautiful people haunt, Mondrian, in West Hollywood.

Schrager’s suit charges that Rande Gerber, a former model who runs upscale watering holes--including Mondrian’s Sky Bar--used his brother as a front to enter business deals with Schrager rival Starwood Hotels.

Such subterfuge violated Gerber’s contract with Schrager, the suit says.

AU REVOIR, DOM: It looks as if we’ve finally heard the last of Beverly Hills widow Marcelle Becker’s fracas with American Airlines over whether her 8-pound lap dog, Dom Perignon, should have been flown on, or stowed under, the first-class seat she bought for it.

Becker threw a fit when the dog got loose and ran yelping around first class. The pilot tied her into her seat with little Dom’s leash.

She sued. She got indicted. She lost the suit. The feds dropped the charges. Then she sued again.

This time, U.S. District Judge J. Spencer Letts granted American’s request to throw out Becker’s libel complaint. Becker had charged that the airline libeled her in documents it supplied to the U.S. attorney’s office.